Rappler Newscast | September 30, 2013

Today on Rappler.

• The social welfare department allocates P99.5 million to rebuild Zamboanga City.
• Senate President Drilon and House Speaker Belmonte say additional funds were not incentives for the conviction of former chief justice Corona.
• The Vatican says Popes John Paul II and John XXIII will be made saints at a joint ceremony.

 

Story 1: ROXAS: ZAMBOANGA CRISIS OVER
After 3 weeks, the Zamboanga City hall reopens Monday following a standoff between government troops and members of the Moro National Liberation Front or MNLF.
The Philippine flag was raised half-mast in front of the city hall, as government offices resume operations.
On Saturday, the military announced the end of its 3-week campaign against MNLF fighters, who occupied several barangays in the city last September 9.
MNLF fighters seized Zamboanga’s neighborhoods, shutting down the city, taking hostages, and triggering weeks of violence.
They accuse the administration of ignoring the MNLF in government peace talks with its breakaway group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF.
More than 10,000 homes were razed to the ground, forcing over 100,000 people to flee.
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas says it will take up to two weeks before the situation normalizes.

MAR ROXAS, DILG SECRETARY: Ang estimate mga 10 days to two weeks. Nakita naman niyo talagang masikip at hindi kwadra-kwadrado ang pagtayo ng mga bahay dito. Ang iniiwasan natin dito mga booby trap, mga IED, and of course gusto rin nating makuha kung may natitirang mga bangkay at mga armas, ammunitions na naiiwan dito. (The estimate is 10 days to two weeks. You saw how crowded it is and houses are not built in a grid. What we are avoiding are booby traps. And of course we want to recover remaining bodies and arms, ammunitions that may have been left behind.)

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin says there’s still work to be done and they are trying to determine if MNLF commander Habier Malik is among the casualties.

VOICE OF VOLTAIRE GAZMIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We’re still in the process of identifying the bodies, through all the test that is required to confirm if Malik is one of them, we’re not certain.

On Monday, the government announces the efforts of various agencies in helping rebuild the city.
The social welfare department allocates P99.5 million for assistance, while the health department sets up posts and medical clinics in evacuation centers.
The government is also accepting relief goods and construction materials from donors to help rehabilitate the broken villages.
Netizens outside Zamboanga are asked to use #ayudazamboanga to coordinate relief efforts and activities, while those within Zamboanga are asked to use #ayudahanzamboanga.

Story 2: DRILON ADMITS RECEIVING P100M AFTER CORONA TRIAL
Senate President Franklin Drilon admits getting P100 million worth of disbursement funds after the conviction of former chief justice Renato Corona, but says the amount was not a bribe.
Drilon says the additional funds were part of the government’s stimulus fund called the Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP.
Drilon says he used the amount for infrastructure projects in Iloilo, which was then launching a bid to host the APEC ministerial meeting in 2015.
The Senate President is responding to insinuations made by Sen Jinggoy Estrada that he facilitated the release of P50 million to each senator in exchange for Corona’s conviction in May 2012.
Estrada later clarified the money was only an “incentive,” and not a bribe.
Drilon says there is –quote– “no logic” to claims the funds were used to influence votes since they were released after the trial and conviction of Corona.
On Saturday, Budget Secretary Butch Abad confirms funds from DAP were released to senators to — quote — “help accelerate economic expansion.”
He adds, any suggestion these were used as bribes is “inaccurate” and “irresponsible.”

Story 3: MIRIAM TO PALACE: PLAYING FAVORITES IS AGAINST CONSTITUTION
Sen Miriam Defensor Santiago questions the selective release of additional funds to senators, calling it unconstitutional.
Santiago says the executive branch may be liable for violating the equal protection clause in the Constitution in the selective and uneven release of the DAP to senators following Corona’s conviction.
She adds, “The DAP releases, flawed as they were from the beginning, played favorites among senators. I would like to know in particular if it is legal for the budget department to discriminate among senators.”
A list released by Budget Secretary Butch Abad shows senators got an average of P50 million from the DAP, but Drilon got P100 million, Sen Juan Ponce Enrile got P92 million and Sen Chiz Escudero got P99 million.
Enrile was the Senate President and presiding officer during the impeachment trial.
Santiago and senators Panfilo Lacson, Joker Arroyo, Pia Cayetano, and Bongbong Marcos did not receive any disbursement from the DAP in 2012.
Santiago, Arroyo and Marcos voted to acquit Corona.
Drilon and Abad say the money was not a bribe, but Santiago says the DAP releases “during and just after the impeachment trial constituted bribery under the Penal Code.”
She urges the Commission on Audit or COA to probe the alleged bribery in the Corona trial on top of its audit into the pork barrel scam. 

Story 4: BELMONTE: P10M FOR SOLONS AFTER CORONA TRIAL
Months after the the conviction of former Chief Justice Corona, House Speaker Sonny Belmonte says congressmen also received an off-budget disbursement of P10 million each.
But like his counterpart in the Senate, Belmonte denies the amount had anything to do with getting the votes to impeach Corona.

SONNY BELMONTE JR, HOUSE SPEAKER: First of all, akala ko 10 lang, and marami pa ring hindi nakakatanggap. And it’s all very difficult to connect it to Corona…because even up to September, hindi naman lahat e, little by little. (First of all, it was only P10 million and not everybody has received it because even up to September, it had not been released in full.)

Belmonte says the fund was used for infrastructure projects to combat underspending and boost the economy in 2012.
He admits receiving P10 million.

Story 5: OMBUDSMAN ON NAPOLES’ SENATE TESTIMONY: STILL A NO
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales stands by her decision advising the Senate against summoning alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.
But she also says her advice is not meant to challenge the Senate’s independence.
Morales says that — quote — “That the Senate is supreme in its own sphere was never meant to be challenged. I thus submit to the collective wisdom of its members.”
Morales wrote Senate President Franklin Drilon in response to his request for a comment on the letter of Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman TG Guingona.
Guingona urged Drilon to reconsider his decision not to sign the subpoena for Napoles, saying the Senate is not bound by the Ombudsman’s opinion.
The Ombudsman advised against having Napoles testify, invoking the confidentiality rule of her office.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Vicente Mendoza tells Rappler “nothing prevents” the Senate from calling Napoles to its probe.
But as a matter of “inter-departmental courtesy,” the Senate should notify the court to avoid conflicts in the schedule of hearings.

Story 6: RAPPLER REPORTER ON NAPOLES PIECE: ‘NO MALICE’
Rappler reporter Natashya Gutierrez denounces as baseless the libel case filed against her by alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.
Napoles filed a libel case against Gutierrez after the reporter wrote about the P80-million luxury condominium her daughter Jeane owns.
Napoles wants Gutierrez to pay P10 million in damages and attorney’s fees.
Responding to the complaint, Gutierrez says she “did not act with malice” in reporting Jeane’s luxurious lifestyle.
She says she based her stories on public records from the Office of the Assessor of Los Angeles County and the Recorder’s Office.
In her counter-affidavit, Gutierrez says she acted  “with good reason and justifiable motive.”
She adds, “Since Janet Napoles is a public figure and the matter is one of public interest, Janet must show the presence of actual malice for her complaint to prosper.”
On her references to Napoles, Gutierrez says the statements are “matter of fact in tone” and “do not contain any calculated falsehoods.”
She adds that since Napoles was already a public figure when Rappler published the stories, “actual malice [must] be present for libel to exist.”
Napoles’ lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, earlier sent Rappler a cease-and-desist demand dated August 1.
She threatened to file “criminal and civil actions” over the news site’s supposedly “inaccurate, reckless and unfair articles.”
This is Rappler’s response: “Private persons whose lives intersect with public persons and issues of public interest are certainly not exempt from the public’s ‘prying eyes.’
“The reports on Jeane Napoles were neither pulled from thin air nor fabricated.’”

Story 7: HOUSE: FOI BY 2016? WE WILL SURPRISE SENATORS
House Speaker Sonny Belmonte says the chamber may just surprise the Senate by ensuring it passes the Freedom of Information bill by 2016.
For the past two congresses, the ball to pass the FOI bill has been on the House’s court.
Belmonte says the House leadership is seriously examining the various versions of the FOI bill filed this year.
The measure seeks to install fast procedures in accessing government documents.
He says –quote– “We like to joke that senators are very quick to approve the FOI bill…knowing very well that it will take a while to pass in the House. We will surprise them as well.”
After the FOI bill moved to the plenary at the Senate, the House public information committee scheduled its first hearing on October 22.
Senate committee on public information chairperson Grace Poe earlier sponsored the chamber’s version of the FOI Bill.
Poe says the bill is a consolidation of 12 separate proposals, including 9 bills and one resolution, Malacañang’s version of the measure, and the petition for indirect initiative by citizens’ groups.

Story 8: FAKE CALLS OVERWHELM PH EMERGENCY HOTLINE
The Commission on Audit releases a report saying the government’s emergency hotline, Patrol 117, received over 2 million prank calls in 2012.
It represents 96% of the total volume of calls received.
Set up in 2002, Patrol 117 is supervised by the interior department.
Interior secretary Mar Roxas says the project is “not an effective tool” for crime prevention, but adds a review is ongoing to reconfigure the hotline.
In Metro Manila, only 16 calls can be accommodated by Patrol 117 at any given time.
Throughout the year, the Metro Manila desk reported only 28 successful cases.
Patrol 117-Metro Manila has a budget of P19.411 million for the year.

Story 9: VATICAN SETS APRIL 27 FOR HISTORIC TWO-POPE SAINTHOOD
The Vatican says late popes John Paul II and John XXIII will be made saints at a joint ceremony on April 27, 2014 in a bid to unite Catholic conservatives and liberals.
Pope Francis makes the announcement Monday at a meeting of cardinals.
The canonizations of two popular popes are set to bring hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Rome.
John Paul II was hugely popular among Catholics through his 27-year papacy, although he alienated many with his conservative views.
In the case of John XXIII, Pope Francis “approved the favorable votes” from the Congregation for the canonization even though no second miracle has been found – a break from the usual procedure.
Nicknamed “The Good Pope”, John XXIII called the historic Second Vatican Council, which overhauled the Catholic Church’s rituals and doctrines.

Story 10: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 2, the US House vote on President Barack Obama’s healthcare law brings the federal government closer to its first shutdown in 17 years.
Barely two days before a shutdown deadline, Republican leaders say their stopgap federal spending bill aims to delay Obamacare by a year.
The White House warns the move is a step toward shuttering federal agencies once the fiscal year ends Monday night.
The measure still needs approval in the Senate where Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid says it will be rejected.

At number 6, the United Nations Security Council holds talks Monday, with its main agenda a statement on the humanitarian crisis in Syria, which could include a controversial call to allow cross-border aid missions.
Council members Australia and Luxembourg want the statement to follow up on a landmark Security Council resolution allowing the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.  
The US says Syria is now the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis with more than two million refugees and almost 6 million displaced. 

And at number 7, the prime ministers of India and Pakistan agree to reduce violence over their disputed border in Kashmir.
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif order senior military officers to “find effective means to restore the ceasefire.”
The talks come after militants raided an army base on the Indian side of Kashmir on Thursday, killing 10 people.

Story 11: MEGAN YOUNG IS MISS WORLD 2013
Beating 126 other candidates from all over the globe, Megan Young wins the Philippines’ first Miss World crown.
In a glittering finale Saturday at the Indonesian resort island of Bali, the 23-year-old Young promises to be “the best Miss World ever,” in front of a cheering crowd.
The event was moved to Bali after hardline Muslims took to the streets to protest the pageant.
In the question and answer portion, Young expresses her belief in a “core value of humanity” which guides people’s actions.

– Rappler.com

Newscast production staff

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / WRITER	Lilibeth Frondoso
DIRECTOR	Rupert Ambil
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER / PUBLISHER	Rodneil Quiteles
	Dindin Reyes
HEAD WRITER / PROMPTER	Katerina Francisco
MASTER EDITOR / PLAYBACK	Vicente Roxas
	Exxon Ruebe
	Jom Tolentino
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR / CAMERAMAN	Charlie Salazar
	Adrian Portugal
	Francis Lopez
	Naoki Mengua
GRAPHICS	Jessica Lazaro
	Matthew Hebrona